VOASE0309_In the News

09 March 2007

Congress Investigates Treatment of Wounded Troops Returning Home
Lawmakers go to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington to hear about poor living conditions. President Bush creates a commission to study military health care.

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This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.

Army Specialist Jeremy Duncan and Annette McLeod, wife of a soldier, appear at a House hearing at Walter Reed Army Medical Center

Both houses of Congress held hearings this week on conditions at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington. Investigations began after the Washington Post reported last month on poor living conditions for soldiers recovering from war wounds. Some said they had to wait months for follow-up treatment or separation from the Army.

The newspaper described, for example, a building where recovering soldiers had to live with mice, mold and insects.

Military officials apologized at a hearing held Monday at Walter Reed by members of the House of Representatives. Lawmakers also heard from soldiers and family members about long delays with paperwork.

An Army document shows that officials at Walter Reed and the Army Medical Command were warned last year about a risk of system overload. More than twenty thousand service members have been wounded in Iraq alone.

Another issue involves brain injuries in troops wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan. Recent news reports have told of some having to wait months for treatment. Congress has demanded that the Department of Veterans Affairs improve the situation.

An explosion that shakes the brain can cause traumatic brain injury. Doctors may not be able to see any injuries. But signs of it can include headaches, feeling tense, sleep disorders, memory problems and depression.

The department says all patients who recently served in Iraq or Afghanistan will now be tested for traumatic brain injury. The new testing will start in the spring at all one hundred fifty-five V.A. medical centers. And all V.A. health care providers will be trained about this kind of injury.

In announcing the plan, V.A. Secretary Jim Nicholson noted that the department "is a nationally recognized leader in health care."

But this is not the first time the veterans hospital system has been criticized for poor service. The system began in the nineteen thirties. Over the years, it has gone through periods with more patients than it could handle. World War Two, for example, created waiting lists for beds in veterans hospitals.

Walter Reed is a leading military hospital. But a two thousand five law to reorganize military bases calls for it to close four years from now. Army officials say they are moving quickly to deal with the problems there. The hospital's commander for the past six months was replaced and the secretary of the Army was forced to resign.

But problems are being described not just at Walter Reed. President Bush says he is concerned that soldiers and their families are not getting the treatment they should. This week he established a commission to examine health care both at the Defense Department and the Department of Veterans Affairs. Former Senator Bob Dole, a Republican, and former health secretary Donna Shalala, a Democrat, have agreed to head the commission.

And that's IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English, written by Brianna Blake. I’m Steve Ember.

Nigerian Activist Slams Anti-Gay Bill

By Gilbert da Costa Abuja 09 March 2007

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A leading gay activist in Nigeria has denounced current government efforts to ban homosexuality in the country. For VOA, Gilbert da Costa reports the Nigerian government is facing substantial international pressure over the plan.

A controversial bill that would ban homosexuality in Nigeria could become law this month.

Gay activist Bisi Alimi, 27, looks at a copy of Gay Times magazine in front of his house in Lagos, 11 Oct 2006

Among other things, the Same Sex Marriage Prohibition Act 2007 assigns a five-year prison term not only for practicing gays, but for those who support them. The legislation has passed two readings in both houses of the National Assembly, and will become law if it passes a third reading and is approved by the president.

The Nigerian parliament will go into recess later this month as the country prepares for elections in April.

Activists fear politicians will push through the bill to score political points, despite serious concerns about the implications for human rights.

Homophobic attacks, intimidation and threats have reportedly increased in Nigeria as a result of the introduction of the legislation in early 2006.

Davis Mac-Iyalla is the Director of Changing Attitude Nigeria, a gay group that claims 2,000 members. An Anglican, Mac-Iyalla attracted media attention in 2005 when he announced his group. He has since fled Nigeria and on the phone from his temporary home in Lome, the capital of neighboring Togo, he told VOA his fears and anguish over current attempts to ban homosexuality in Nigeria.

"As long as that bill, same sex bill is on debate….if it is passed, many of us will go on exile. And I don't know why any government will want to send its people, harmless people, vulnerable people, on exile," he said. "So, I think everything should be done. That is why we are seeing it as a debate, but the government and the church are seeing it as a war and that is why we are worried. I am not comfortable in Nigeria. I'm into hiding."

The Nigerian anti-homosexuality bill has received widespread support in a country where homophobic feelings are very strong, including endorsements by powerful religious groups and personalities.

But several international organizations, among them experts on human rights issues, have condemned the proposal, arguing it infringes on the principle of freedom of assembly and association.

Church leaders in United States have also denounced the legislation, saying it is all about persecution and hatred and not about Christian values.

Iyalla says only strong international pressure can stop the passage of the bill.

"What I want them [the international community] to do is to put pressure on the Nigerian government to withdraw that bill. And to advise the church leaders to seek advice. The church and government are in to rush, to wipe us out," he said. "The international community has to put more pressure on them."

Gay sex is already illegal in Nigeria and most Nigerians say they resent what they characterize as the imposition of Western ideas of rights.